Because of You
by MusicalPrime
Summary: Songfic. Bumblebee is orphaned by Decepticons and is raised by the twins, Arcee and Tailgate (I don't know why I made them twins but I did) and realizes what it truly means to be an Autobot. This is how our favorite mute (until just recently) scout became the mech we know and love today! :) You guys voted for the song so I wrote it!


**You guys voted for the song now here it is! Because of You belongs to Kelly Clarkson (no lyrics apparently allowed) and Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro!**

* * *

1st verse

"Carrier? Creator?" a small voice cried out in the dark. Bright baby blue optics lit the room as the youngling, barely out of sparklinghood, stumbled around the room looking desperately for his sparkparents. When he turned a corner that had light he gasped and tears filled his optics. There in front of him were his sparkparents, lying in a pool of their own energon. He ran up to his Carrier and put a servo on her cheekplate. "C-Carrier?"

"They were weak, they made the mistake of crossing my path. But now I get a trophy." A rough voice sounded from behind him. The young mech squeaked in fear when a bot picked him up and turned him so he was looking straight into the optics of the Decepticon responsible for his sparkparents' death. He struggled and managed to break free and run. He ran as fast as he could until he ran smack into someone's legs.

"What the-" a femme started to say but then looked down to see a frightened youngling looking up at her with pleading optics. Carrier coding kicked in and she picked up the youngling and held him close to her spark until he calmed down enough so he was sobbing. "Calm down little one, don't be frightened. I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Arcee, what's yours?"

"Bumblebee…" he answered quietly and told the femme what happened. She frowned and rushed the youngling back to the Autobot base for medical attention. Bumblebee, as he began to fall asleep from exhaustion, silently vowed never to make the same mistake his sparkparents made when they got in Megatron's way.

Chorus

Bumblebee rarely left Arcee's side after that. He didn't dare trust anyone else aside from Ratchet and Tailgate, Arcee's twin brother. Arcee grew more and more concerned every day for the poor youngling she was forced to raise. Whenever she went on a mission with Tailgate he'd stay in the med bay with Ratchet. The old medic looked over at Bumblebee curiously.

"Why don't you go play with the other younglings on base? There's bound to be a few you'd easily be friends with." Ratchet asked. Bumblebee didn't answer, merely looked away while his doorwings drooped slightly. Ratchet paused his work and looked at the youngling curiously. He walked over and sat down next to him on the berth. "What's holding you back?"

"I'm scared. Creator made a mech very mad once and now he's…" Bumblebee trailed off. Realization dawned on Ratchet and he knew immediately that Bumblebee was terrified of sharing the same fate as his sparkparents.

2nd Verse

Bumblebee was now in his late teens and causing lots of trouble. He was still in his protective shell but he trained a lot. He no longer feared the Decepticons, but instead wanted nothing more than revenge on the mech who offlined his family. This caused some major problems for his caretakers who constantly had to keep an optic on him. Bumblebee never feared the consequences or Arcee's temper, but he did get scared when Optimus Prime himself called him to his office. He knocked on the door cautiously when he got to Prime's office.

"Come in, Bumblebee." The gentle voice called from inside. Bumblebee entered and sat down on the opposite side of the desk as Optimus. Optimus looked up from the datapad he was reading with a stern look at Bumblebee. "I hear you are training to be a scout. Top of your class, raised by two of my best soldiers, and is one of the few bots who actually shows up on time when Ratchet wants to give you your checkup. You're practically ready to be out on the battlefield but you have yet to pass the most important test."

"What is it, sir?" Bumblebee asked enthusiastically. He expected to be yelled at for causing mischief and sneaking out into another battle. Optimus frowned and leaned forward so he was closer to the mech. Bumblebee grew extremely confused when he put his servo on his chassis, right over where his spark was hidden by thick armor. Optimus backed away and sighed. "I…don't understand."

"You lack spark, Bumblebee. You don't seem to care about Arcee and Tailgate anymore, the ones who took you in when you had nowhere else to go. Arcee is in the med bay in critical condition because she had to protect you when you snuck out in battle. Do you feel any remorse? Do you fear at all that she might offline? You care about revenge more than about the safety of yourself and of others. You are going down the path of a Decepticon Bumblebee. You need to make your decision now. Will you try and mend your ways and remain as an Autobot? Or will you defect to the Decepticons."

For the first time since he saw his sparkparents offline on the ground lying in a pool of their own energon, Bumblebee felt completely alone and mortified. He was now faced with the decision of staying with the Autobots and change his attitude, or become a Decepticon and stay the same. They both failed to notice that Tailgate had entered when Optimus told Bumblebee that. The mech held his intakes and silently prayed to Primus that Bumblebee would make the right decision. Bumblebee lowered his helm in shame, trying to hid the tears that were flowing from his optics. Arcee and Tailgate never cried, it was a sign of weakness Bumblebee guessed.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. P-Please don't hate me." Bumblebee stumbled over his words as he frantically tried to answer the Prime. Optimus finally took notice of Tailgate in the corner, not looking very pleased. Bumblebee looked back up at his leader in fear and remorse. "I don't want to leave the Autobots. I want to be an Autobot soldier someday. Please don't make me leave and become a Decepticon."

"Optimus you've frightened him enough, let the kid go. I just came to tell you that Arcee's going to be fine." Tailgate growled as he walked up behind his adopted son. Bumblebee looked up at him and looked as if he'd seen a ghost. Tailgate helped him stand and sent one last glare to his leader. He left after saying one last thing, "I'll keep an optic on him, but you seriously went too far this time."

3rd Verse

Bumblebee had just lost his voice. Ratchet did everything he could to repair it but it was all in vain and the young scout could no longer speak unless it was with clicks and whirrs. Arcee and Tailgate tried to help him get through the pain but the memory still burned in his processor. The snarky comebacks, getting beaten, Megatron squeezing his neck…he couldn't stop thinking about it even after the week following his rescue. The day he had lost his voice, he also found out who had offlined his sparkparents.

"Bumblebee you must promise me not to focus all your energy on offlining Knockout or Megatron, please. I know they deserve to be punished for what they did but they're not worth it." Arcee said as she tried to help him calm down after a horrible nightmare. He had long since grown out of the need of a caretaker but at that moment he needed someone to be there for him and that's what Arcee was doing.

"_I'm not looking for revenge, I just want the fear to end…"_ He cried into her shoulder.

Bridge/4th Verse

When Bumblebee and Cliffjumper saved Arcee from Airachnid he thought he'd be rescuing two Autobots. That all changed when he saw Tailgate offline, hanging on the wall with his helm nearly severed. Arcee was going hysterical over how she couldn't save him. A memorial service had been held for Tailgate the next day and Arcee was an emotional wreck. Late in the night Bumblebee could hear someone sobbing. He walked next door to Arcee's room and found her curled up in a fetal position holding a picture of Tailgate to her spark.

"I know you're there Bumblebee." She called out softly through her sobs. Bumblebee walked the rest of the way in and rubbed her back. He knew very little about bonds, especially sibling bonds considering he never had one. "W-When she offlined him I could feel his pain…I felt it rip apart my spark and I couldn't stop him from offlining just like I can't stop the pain."

"_Promise me the same thing I promised you when Megatron took my voice and I found out that Knockout had offlined my sparkparents: don't waste your energy on revenge."_ Bumblebee pleaded, but his words fell on deaf audios. He knew that she would still go after Airachnid no matter what because of the pain she put her through. It's easy to give someone advice, but hard to follow it yourself. What she didn't know was that sometimes, Bumblebee would still cry over the death of his sparkparents and now, for the death of Tailgate.

Chorus

On Earth you never would've guessed Bumblebee had been practically a sparkless creature back when he was in training or that he was orphaned at a young age. No one could tell that he was still deathly afraid of the ones who made his life a living Pit as a youngling. Raf would never know that Bumblebee had major trust issues in the past. But when he first saw Knockout again he froze.

The paranoia

The memories

The isolation

The emptiness

It all hit him like a dark energon blast. And once again the one sinking feeling he'd been trying to avoid came back again.

Fear

* * *

**Tada! I hope you liked it!**

**Reviews are welcomed!**

**Until all are one!**


End file.
